New Hampshire agrees to pay $10 million in youth center abuse case
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office has reached a $10 million settlement in the case of a man who claimed he was gang-raped at the state’s youth detention center in the 1990s. Michael Gilpatrick’s lawsuit against the state was set to be the second out of over 1,300 cases to go to trial, but both parties agreed to settle out of court, as announced by his legal team on Saturday.
The $10 million payout is four times the maximum amount available through the state’s settlement fund for abuse victims, although it is less than half of the $38 million verdict awarded by a jury in a previous lawsuit that went to trial. Gilpatrick, now 41, was just 14 years old when he was sent to the Youth Development Center in Manchester for a three-year term in 1997. His lawsuit accused 10 staff members at the facility of sexual and physical abuse, including allegations of repeated rapes and being choked into unconsciousness.
Describing his harrowing experience at the center, Gilpatrick shared, “There was nobody you could go to at YDC to talk to. You were literally stuck in your own thoughts, in your own fear every single day. That place turned us into what we were. I can’t say what I am now because I’m a better person now. But coming out of that place, I was a monster.”
One particularly traumatic incident detailed by Gilpatrick involved being held down by two staffers in a stairwell while another individual raped him, and a fourth person forced him to perform a sex act. Criminal charges were filed against four former staffers, described by Gilpatrick as a “hit squad,” leading to trials for two of them.
Brad Asbury, aged 70, was convicted of being an accomplice to aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison. However, a mistrial was declared for Stephen Murphy, who faced charges of rape. Murphy, denying the assault, is set to undergo three additional trials related to former residents of the facility.
The settlement agreement spares Gilpatrick from the emotional toll of another court proceeding. He had also testified at the criminal trials, expressing his anger towards defense attorneys at times. Gilpatrick explained that he had kept the assaults to himself initially due to the involvement of dorm leaders in the abuse, and spent years trying to suppress his memories.
After coming to terms with the fact that he was not at fault and overcoming self-blame, Gilpatrick decided to speak out. Since the investigation into the facility began in 2019, eleven former youth counselors have been arrested, with two convictions and another case awaiting retrial later this year.
The closure of the youth center, named after former Governor John H. Sununu, has been approved by lawmakers. Plans are in place to replace the facility with a smaller one in a new location, as the current one now only houses individuals accused or convicted of serious violent crimes. The courage of survivors like Gilpatrick in speaking out about their experiences has shed light on the need for accountability and justice in cases of abuse and maltreatment.
